


Nothing to be afraid of

by Maeve_Lynn



Series: Valentine's Day 2021 [2]
Category: Ranger's Apprentice - John Flanagan
Genre: Best Friends, Bi, Coming Out, Fear of Rejection, First Kiss, Fluff, Gay, Love Confessions, M/M, confused
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-12 05:35:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29380038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maeve_Lynn/pseuds/Maeve_Lynn
Summary: Horace knows for a long time he's into men. Problems start when he develops feelings for his best friend, knowing that Will is in love with Alyss. As time passes by, the secret is too much to keep for himself.
Relationships: Horace Altman/Will Treaty
Series: Valentine's Day 2021 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2164947
Comments: 1
Kudos: 12





	Nothing to be afraid of

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ihavecrippelinhdeppression](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Ihavecrippelinhdeppression).



> I haven't written a Horace/Will (Hill) fanfic before, so this was a nice challenge. It was fun to write and I hope I have done them right with this fic. Hopefully you'll enjoy reading it ^^

It had been some time since he had figured it out for himself. At first, he thought it was admiration that he felt towards his friend. He couldn’t deny that the apprentice was strategic, clever, open minded and, above all, well trained. He had seen his muscular body, the strong arms and back and couldn’t keep his eyes off him.

The young knight sighed and looked up at the blooming fig tree. How often had he chased his friend into the branches, yet he was never brave enough to go after him. Now, he was resting at the stem and was waiting.

Time passed by, yet to Horace, it was too slow. And a torture, he also thought. He looked around, trying to see if Will was on his way, but alas, there was no one to be seen.

Leaning against the tree, he thought more about what he wanted to say to his best friend, yet a small voice inside of him tried to make him insecure. _He wouldn’t accept it_ , the voice said. _He’s in love with Alyss, as is Alyss in love with him. You’ll never be able to get through that. You should have taken the opportunity when the Princess had told you she loved you, yet you scared her away with saying you don’t like women._

Horace bit his lip and tried to take deep breaths. No, he had gone through those doubts and fears already. He knew whom he liked and that wasn’t bad. It was not that he chose to like men, it… it was just a fact, he told himself. _Yes,_ the voice continued, _but do you really think that-_

“Horace, are you alright?”

Scared as he hadn’t heard him approaching, the young knight jumped into the air.

“Will!” he said once he found his voice. “I didn’t hear you. How… how long have you been here already?”

The apprentice tilted his head and Horace felt how his stomach filled itself with a nice feeling.

“Oh, not long actually, just a couple of minutes.”

He noticed how his friend blushed slightly and he chuckled.

“I’m just teasing you, Horace. I arrived a minute or so ago. The meeting took longer than expected, but I’m free now.” He hoped Horace would take the small hint and, to his joy, he did.

“That’s great! Shall we go to Jenny then, to get some dinner?”

Another chuckle and Horace felt himself melting.

“Horace, it’s not even dinner time. We can go for a small stroll through the forest first, if you want,” Will proposed and the knight, being well aware he wouldn’t be able to answer properly, decided it would be safer to nod. He waited for Will to follow him and together they headed towards the forest.

He was sure something was going on, but even as trained as he was, he couldn’t figure out what exactly. They had been on a walk for almost half an hour now and Horace hadn’t been talkative at all. Will had asked about his life at Castle Araluen, how Evanlyn was doing and some other small topics, but to all of them, Horace had been short with his answers and kept looking in front of him. Moreover, he seemed to be blushing all the time, which was very odd in his eyes. Why would Horace blush and dodge his gaze? Had he said something wrong?

For Horace, it became more and more difficult to avoid the topic. He became more and more nervous and that made Will worried.

“Horace, can you please tell me what’s going on?”

Will stopped in his tracks, forcing the knight to do the same. Looking at him, Will noticed how he was trembling, looking around and lowering his gaze whenever Will looked at him.

“I’m your best friend, you know you can trust me, right?”

 _Oh no, you can’t tell him this,_ the voice said. _He will leave you and then you’ll never see him again! Better to keep it for yourself than breaking the friendship._

“Horace?”

Will reached out with his hand to hold his, but Horace took a step back. He couldn’t.

“I-I just remembered that- I g-gotta go.”

Without saying anything else, he turned around on his heels and ran back to the castle, leaving Will alone.

Once he was safely in his room, he sat down on the bed and stared numbly in front of him.

_Don’t worry, we can come up with some small lie, saying you were just hungry or anything. Now you saved your friendship, imagine what would have happened if you actually told him. You could have lost him forever!_

“Or he could have been accepting and then he wouldn’t have to be worried,” Horace whispered to himself, burying his head in his hands.

It had been some days now and Will was becoming very worried. He had tried to talk with Horace, but every time, he got the reply that his friend didn’t have time and had a lot of things to do. It hurt him, to see Horace so at lost. Will didn’t know what was going on, but he believed it wasn’t anything small. He had trusted Alyss with his concerns about their wardmate and she told him how not long ago, Evanlyn had sent her a letter, telling that Horace was acting… strange. She had told him that she had fallen in love with him, yet he had told her he would never be able to love women. This had made Will frown and after talking with Alyss for some time about it, he had returned to the cabin. There, he had spent several nights thinking about it and also about Horace.

_Horace._

A smile spread among his lips and he couldn’t help it, but he felt his stomach flipping.

It hadn’t been easy, accepting that he was attracted to the knight. After kissing Alyss at the inn that night in his first year, he had developed feelings for her and for a long time, he had thought she was the only one for him. But that changed when he went to Celtica with Horace and Gilan. When training together, he had to do his best to not get distracted by how handsome Horace was. At first he tried to shove it aside as nothing to worry about, but it happened more and more often. Eventually, Will couldn’t do anything else than admit he was attracted to both Horace and Alyss.

After several failed attempts to speak with him, Horace had finally given in and agreed on meeting him in the forest, at their secret spot.

Will had been waiting there for some time, when he heard some bushes rustling. He was at guard, but then he saw it was his friend and got on his feet.

Horace, more nervous than he had ever been, knew what the reason was. He even had thought about leaving Castle Redmont without saying anything, but the thought about how confused Will would be and more, how hurt, made him stay. _One day, you have to tell him,_ he had been saying to himself over and over again. _Then it’ll be better to do that today._

“Horace,” Will started, once standing in front of him, but was stopped by Horace’s raised hand.

“Will, I-I want to go first. If I don’t say it now, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life, as I’ll be too scared to say you this.” His breathing was hastily, as if what he wanted to say was as bad as saying goodbye forever.

The apprentice nodded and gestured he could start talking when he wanted.

Not knowing how he should say it, he decided to just keep it simple.

“Will, what I w-want to tell you… I-I’m in love, with you.”

There, he had said it. Now he would get a lecture, about how impossible it was and Will would surely leave him. As he saw Will’s hand raising, he thought he would be hit, to get this thought out of him. Instead, Will placed his hand on the back of his neck and looked at him.

“Horace, if only you knew how long I’ve been waiting to tell you that I love you too.” Seeing the confused look in his eyes, he explained. “It’s been a while since I found out I love both you and Alyss, yet until today, I was scared to tell you.”

The young knight had so many questions, yet the hand in the back of his neck pulled him forward, until their lips touched each other.


End file.
